Honoring the Holy Father:
Indianapolis couple’s gifts in Poland show love for John Paul II
By Mary Ann Wyand
Every year, 5 million pilgrims journey to Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland, to pray at the Marian shrine that is the home of the famed Black Madonna.
In May, archdiocesan pilgrims led by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein traveled to Poland and the Czech Republic on a 10-day pilgrimage to visit the birthplace of Pope John Paul II and pray at places of significance to the Catholic faith.
During their pilgrimage, they visited Jasna Gora, the largest and most important Catholic shrine in Poland, and celebrated Mass on May 15 at the world-famous monastery founded by members of the Pauline Order.
They also posed for photographs underneath a huge bronze statue of the Polish pope located on the bastion of the Holy Trinity at the monastery fortress.
The sculpture, which is more than 7 meters tall, shows the pope smiling and extending his right arm in greeting while holding his skull cap in his left hand.
The pilgrims admired the sculpture, but had no idea that this monument and another similar statue of the pontiff outside St. Laurence Church in Dynow, Poland, have connections to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Both statues are the gifts of Tomasz Golab and Danuta Cwiklinska-Golab, a Polish couple who emigrated to the United States in 1960 and settled in Holy Spirit Parish in Indianapolis in 1962.
During their teenage and young adult years, they were active in the Polish Underground.
In August 1999, the Golabs traveled to Poland to participate in the dedication ceremony for the papal statue at Jasna Gora.
Polish Cardinal Joseph Glemp presided at the dedication of the monument on Aug. 26, 1999, the feast of Holy Mary of Jasna Gora, in the presence of two other cardinals, 45 archbishops and bishops, numerous priests, representatives of state authorities and more than 200,000 pilgrims.
In his speech, Golab called attention to the role of John Paul II in the liberation of Europe from communism as well as the recovery of freedom and independence in Poland.
Golab also spoke of the heroic feats and tragic fate of his generation of Poles while fighting for freedom and independence from German fascism and Russian communism.
The second, smaller monument in Dynow was dedicated on June 3, 2000, and commemorated the 80th birthday of the pope, who was born on May 18, 1920.
Archbishop Joseph Michalik of Przemysl presided at that dedication in the presence of two other bishops, the prior of Jasna Gora, numerous priests, authorities and a large crowd of people from the region.
Thomas Golab was born in Dynow, a small town in southeastern Poland that now has about 6,000 residents.
In his address at Dynow, Golab noted that the monument
honors “our beloved Holy Father, the great pope and Pole, and the great worshiper of Mary.
“My wife and I are founding this monument as a tribute to … John Paul II, the great shepherd of our Church, indefatigable proclaimer of truth [and] infallible protector of Poland,” he said. “For our family parish in Dynow, we donate this monument [for] the 80th birthday of our Holy Father as a gift of thanks to the Mother of God for protection over us during our entire life.”
The papal monument “brings closer the connection of the parish of Dynow with Jasna Gora,” he said, and pays tribute to John Paul’s papacy and his contribution to the fall of the Russian Empire, which also encompassed Poland.
“This monument is an expression of our gratitude and homage to our Holy Father for everything he has done for us and for Poland,” Golab said. “[It] is an expression of how much we respect our Holy Father as a son of Poland in the Holy See of St. Peter, but above all as a Vicar of Christ here on Earth.”
Now retired, Thomas Golab worked as a senior chemist then as a research scientist for Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis for more than 25 years.
In 1960, he and his wife, who is a physician, left their temporary home in Switzerland to come to the United States. They first settled in Shrewsbury, Mass., where they worked at the Institute for Experimental Biology for two years.
As teenagers and young adults, the Golabs were active in the Polish Underground for 12 years from 1940-53, fighting against the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany then Polish and Russian communists.
He was nearly captured and could have been killed, so he was forced to leave Poland illegally, escaping to Western Europe in 1951, but she was caught by the Polish communist police in late 1952 and spent almost four years in prison.
Upon her release in 1956, he was able to arrange for her to travel to Switzerland and then Germany in 1957. After he finished his university studies in Switzerland and she completed her medical coursework in Germany, they
emigrated to the United States.
They are modest about their generous gifts to the Catholic Church in Poland, which were inspired by their love for the late pope and their gratitude for his help in achieving their country’s independence through prayer and dialogue.
A priest friend, Father Patrick Beidelman, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral Parish in Indianapolis,
persuaded Tomasz Golab to share his family’s story after seeing a picture of the pope’s statue in The Criterion as part of a photo essay about the pilgrimage last May.
Father Beidelman grew up in Holy Spirit Parish, but didn’t meet the Golabs until he went to Jerusalem through Saint Meinrad Seminary’s study abroad program and they traveled to the Holy Land for the second time on a parish
pilgrimage.
“When we were there, I heard a little bit of Tomasz’ story,” Father Beidelman explained recently. “He served twice in the Polish Underground from 1940 until 1953, first under the Germans and then during the Russian occupation.”
The pilgrimage photo essay published in The Criterion reminded him that the Golabs had given money to the Church in Poland for a sculpture to pay tribute to the Polish pope they loved so much and who helped their homeland achieve independence.
“When I saw that picture and read the caption,” Father Beidelman explained, “I said, ‘I think that might be the statue that Tomasz and Danuta helped to erect.’ He called me about two weeks later and asked if I saw the picture in the paper.”
Both statues were created by noted Polish sculptor Wladyslaw Dudek and master molder Stefan Kowalowka, also a native of Poland, after Golab worked with them to design the monuments.
Father Beidelman said he is pleased to have the Golabs share their story because “they raised a beautiful family—two children [Teresa Heit and Adam Golab]—in a very humble and faith-filled way, and still allowed what should be most important in our lives—faith, family and history—all those things that root us and ground us in who we are as human persons, to continue to be the main focus of their lives.”
In return for the blessings in their lives from God and Mary and in gratitude for their pope, Father Beidelman said, they gave these statues of the Holy Father to the Church for everyone to enjoy for many centuries to come.
Their papal statue at Jasna Gora also is featured in books and postcards about the monastery and other highlights of the world-renowned pilgrimage site. †